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Telescope gear

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Engineers attach bronze gears to equatorial ring on 140-foot telescope, 1964.
The equatorial ring of the 140-foot (43-meter) telescope is a section of a 42-foot diameter circle. Its bronze gear was assembled from 28 separate segments that had to be accurately attached to the 3-million pound yoke. In this photo, engineers clinging onto the telescope use a gigantic drill, larger than a person, to painstakingly create the bolt holes.
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  • Credit: NRAO/AU/NSF
  • Ownership: National Radio Astronomy Observatory
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